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My mother had dementia in her later years. Totally lost all her nouns. You had to figure out by other means, just what she was talking about.
Now, it seems my nouns are dropping off. "That" or some other colorful thing substitutes. Visiting with my friends I find, sure enough, their nouns are fleeting. Some are there. Some aren't. How 'bout y'all?
One particular friend has unique noun substitutes, like "doober." Thing-a-ma-jiggy, is not used as much. I hate "thingy." I had another friend where everything was a thingy. He was an electronic engineer.
Edited by - farmerjones on 04/19/2025 06:07:06
Yes, I've noticed it's the person, place or things that seem to escape our brains. I have that too. My hubby has dementia and he just can't relate the ideas...like, he can't figure out the order of steps to one process or another, which seems a lot worse than just having to say thing-a-ma-jig or do-floppy in place of a noun. I'm trying to make up some mental exercises to practice not letting names of things slip away from me. LIke...make up little silly rhymes to myself while doing some chore or other...or else trying to be a thesaurus for myself for just thinking up word substitutes for one thing or another...but I do that with verbs a lot too...just soliloquizing on my own while doing one thing or another. Don't know if that would be helpful or not. Seems strange to me that there is this sudden global explosion of dementia...I don't buy the explanation that people live longer...I knew more old people, ancient people, than kids as I was growing up...and they were sharp as a tack. I didn't see any of the old generations bumble and fumble like we all do now. I'm wondering if somehow we are overwhelmed with complicated lives, unmanageble lives...I mean, those old folks just lived minute by minute and made sure the animals were fed and the hay was in, etc. Kind of quiet, simple/hard yes, but simple mentally...work. I don't know. Anyway...I go through the days guessing words, sentences, and explaining everyday processes (we wash the dishes before drying them...we dry them before putting them away...it has to go in that order, etc.), and making up little rhymes and crazy stuff in my own mind to hope I can keep it going.
old age ain't for sissies.
If it's any consolation ... I've been noticing the same thing for the past few years - nouns and names getting lost. As far as I've been able to discern - not that I've put much time and effort into the subject - it's just one of those things that go along with aging, and not necessarily a sign of anything dire.
On many occasions, I've lost instant recall of a word or name. However, usually within 20 minutes I remember, or a friends helps from my description of the word.
I'm in my 70s, and occasionally blank out on someone's name, or just can't find a familiar word I want. To some extent I've never been especially good at those things, and don't find much to be alarmed at. My wife has dementia, though.
Now that someone brought up lost nouns, I see that in her. Both in her in own vocabulary, and hearing and understanding me. Many things I say I have to repeat to her. Even then she doesn't really listen and comprehend fully.
Whether there is more dementia now that in earlier times, I can't say. There is more attention to mental conditions in general than in the past, so more diagnosis of everything from ADHD to Alzheimer's. ( A to A - must be a catchier way to put it...). More drugs are marketed to treat these conditions all the time. The sad thing about Alzheimer's is that there isn't a lot to be done. I try to be a good partner. That's about it, I think.
Edited by - Brian Wood on 04/19/2025 11:31:50
Yeah i get it.
Recently i've been trying to teach myself C++ computer programming. and i'm thinking, Maybe i haven't "classified things properly in the first place....."Like "A fiddle is a fiddle".......we all know what that is .... Don't we?
Not an "object" which has to be classified as, 1: A Musical instrument " 2: A stringed instrument, 3: it has 4 strings, 5: it is a bowed instrument , 6: it is tuned GDAE in Standard tuning. 7 it has a scale length of such and such 8: ....... etc...Its a FIDDLE!
If i loose the word "fiddle" i've lost the lot. But if i have classified it properly, i stand a chance of finding the name for it. In my list or "library" of stringed instruments?
Maybe i haven't taken the time to classify it properly in the first place? i just got through life without having to classify it. And without having to explain what it is ...To myself or others. Then i lost the word for it, and cannot find it again....
An absolutely heartbreaking and frustrating situation, for the afflicted person and their loved ones.
They say that activities like math, crosswords, and MUSIC are beneficial to brain health, so most reading here are on the right track.
Posted this before:
I do think it's just more common now...everybody you see either has a parent or spouse with Alzheimer's. It's all around the world. It's everywhere now. It's a horrible thing. It destroys the individual, their family and just ruins lives.
I've found that if I do stuff that involves a certain amount of physical and mental coordination to make it happen, it helps keep my brain at least in at least a semi-functional state of tune. In other words, I gotta do more than just turn on the TV, cruise the net or put on a record on the stereo to reap the benefits. Unfortunately, I've also found that walking while chewing gum ain't quite enough, either.
Part of me says it isn't any more common now than in the past. Maybe.... but I certainly know I am becoming more aware of it. We moved back to Tennessee to take care of my Dad with dementia - for 4 years before he passed on (2018).
And now - just a few years later a good number of friends I've know all my life and folks I've just met - all seem to have similar stories. But most of these folks are my age (73). And like me - when they were younger, we just didn't pay much attention to it because it wasn't so close. And now it is close, and getting closer.
It would be nice to think there is a cure (and there is) - but worrying about a loved one suffering, or a friend, or neighbor........ or even dealing with it in your own life - won't change what's happening, but it will change my mental attitude. It robs what little time there is left - and takes away some of the life that's left to enjoy. They need that - and so did I.
I was with Dad the morning he passed. I am so sad he left that way, but so glad he wasn't alone. He had someone with him - that loved him very dearly - on both sides of life. I smile with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Life is precious.
Thanks for the opportunity to share that.
It's going on all around the world... worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-...-country/
It's really destroyed our own lives, our family, everything. Everything's messed up for us and there is no cure and not even anything to make it better.
quote:
Originally posted by tonyelder
It would be nice to think there is a cure (and there is)
?
quote:
Originally posted by Brian Woodquote:
Originally posted by tonyelder
It would be nice to think there is a cure (and there is)?
An unrealized truth. In my opinion - every disease has a cure, even if we don't know what it is right now - there is a cure.
Playing a musical instrument has always helped me keep me above water, mentally. And yeah, fiddling is in a near class of its own in this pursuit as it forces the left and right sides of your body to engage in two completely different types of movement if you want to actually make some music.
Supposedly things that activate different areas of the brain are good for our brains. But from what I've seen...there's no rhyme or reason to this disease...people who don't do much with their brains still do seem to escape it, and people who do all the brain-activating stuff and live a healthy life don't necessarily have a pass to escape it. Seems to hit people just willy nilly, is what I'm saying. I hate to be so hopeless about the whole thing, but it's really terrible. It can destroy everything in your world. That's how it's been for us. No help. Just, here ya go...good luck figuring out the day-by-day, minute-by-minute difficulties.
It's because they still don't know much about the brain. It's getting better day by day but they still don't understand how severely damaged brains can re-wire. While otherwise well kept brains suffer. And what about banjer pickers? Can anybody truly explain what's going on there?
I am encouraged from Tony's view. There is a solution to every problem. Be it solved in the passed, present, or future. ( they say there's no dobro players in the future)
The secret is to play as many instruments as possible (including banjo, which activates the nether most region).
Tony's view is encouraging. There will likely be advancements in treatment and prevention. But in reality everything from birth on is a fight against the inevitable, and no one ever wins. Certainly, for those deep in the ravages of Alzheimer's now there is no cure. It is part of the human condition.
My wife does crossword puzzles for brain health, I play fiddle ... go figure...
It's been truly depressing as all get-out for us...I feel guilty for not knowing how to handle ANY of it...he feels guilty for just how he is now...he feels bad to not be himself and yet know that...I feel terrified of what the future holds...the only help we've gotten is diagnosing, which runs you around the block for two or three years and finally...the diagnosis..."it's 'probably' the big A." Good luck. We're isolated and everyday is a fearful and frustrating and difficult experience.
Today I got to play my new guitar...that helped me for a while, but it was tough for him when I did it. There's a lot of guilt that we both go through. Just ignorance of what to do, what's dangerous (gas stove, guns, etc.) and what's ok...what do we do...???? I never know and I seem to be terrible at making intelligent choices. We just limp through life together ... it's not easy.
quote:
Originally posted by Brian WoodTony's view is encouraging. There will likely be advancements in treatment and prevention. But in reality everything from birth on is a fight against the inevitable, and no one ever wins. Certainly, for those deep in the ravages of Alzheimer's now there is no cure. It is part of the human condition.
As Tennessee Ernie Ford once said: "If the right one don't get you, the left one will."
....hmmmm - I'm not trying to make light of something so painful and full of sorrow.
Part of the reason we (I) felt so strong about "being there" for Dad was - just a few years earlier - he spent 4 1/2 years taking care of my mother while she fought cancer, lungs - then brain. Chemo, radiation, sad and slow. But Dad was right there for her, every bit of it. I WAS NOT going to let him go through his problems alone!
After all that - In my own way of thinking - sometimes the only good thing about dying is when it stops.
Peggy - I wish ther were words that I could say to fix it, or make it better. But - for what it is worth - I understand some of what you are feeling. PM if you ever need " an ear".
Edited by - tonyelder on 04/22/2025 10:15:34
I know how this goes. I have one relation and a longtime dear friend that are in this decline. And there isn’t anything important that I can do to help, though that’s hard to accept. I do my best to pick up the slack and fill in the blanks and I’m good at keeping a positive attitude front & center. But I know that at some point it will get beyond my efforts.
In the meantime it seems important to make the most of our current good times, and remember all the fun times that happened before.
quote:
Originally posted by StraboI know how this goes. I have one relation and a longtime dear friend that are in this decline. And there isn’t anything important that I can do to help, though that’s hard to accept. I do my best to pick up the slack and fill in the blanks and I’m good at keeping a positive attitude front & center. But I know that at some point it will get beyond my efforts.
In the meantime it seems important to make the most of our current good times, and remember all the fun times that happened before.
My Dad and I had a routine - drink a few cupos of coffee at 9AM everyday. For about a week, I would get my phone out, put it on record and ask Dad to tell me about growing up - friends, things they did, school, special memories. He really enjoyed it. He got all excited while telling the stories recalling the memories - all smiles. I loved listening to him tell them.
I'm glad I have them - but I still have not gone back and listen to them - 7 years later. I miss him.
The worst thing is you lose that person, bit by bit, and they lose you, and everybody around you sees the losses and doesn't know how to respond, so they stay away, and you don't know how to respond, so you never know what the heck you should be doing, and you are losing your own self and anybody you ever knew, and it's all just spiraling out of control. That's what the disease does...little by little, every single day, every single minute, with no breaks.
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